You prove DDoS vectors exist by DDoSing your own site, or one you have permission to work on. Same with SQLi vulnerabilities. If you want to report a vulnerability you've found to a company, include a working exploit in your report, but don't run it. If the company ignores you or tries to brush the vulnerability off, that's where it gets hairy and responsible disclosure comes into play.
We don't know what his level of communication was with Apple, but it doesn't appear that he notified them before testing this exploit. Had they refused to address the issue or otherwise brushed him off, this would be a reasonable escalation. The same story on r/netsec [1] is being linked to a Forbes article [2], which claims he notified Apple three weeks ago. That's not a ton of time.
Ultimately, he very much violated their ToS and Apple is well within their rights to give him the boot. Whether that was a smart decision on their part remains to be seen.
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You prove DDoS vectors exist by DDoSing your own site, or one you have permission to work on. Same with SQLi vulnerabilities. If you want to report a vulnerability you've found to a company, include a working exploit in your report, but don't run it. If the company ignores you or tries to brush the vulnerability off, that's where it gets hairy and responsible disclosure comes into play.
We don't know what his level of communication was with Apple, but it doesn't appear that he notified them before testing this exploit. Had they refused to address the issue or otherwise brushed him off, this would be a reasonable escalation. The same story on r/netsec [1] is being linked to a Forbes article [2], which claims he notified Apple three weeks ago. That's not a ton of time.
Ultimately, he very much violated their ToS and Apple is well within their rights to give him the boot. Whether that was a smart decision on their part remains to be seen.
[1] http://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/m48gx/charlie_miller... , http://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/m3uwo/mac_hacker_cha...
[2] http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2011/11/07/apple-e...